How to completely uninstall VLC media player on Mac
Dragging VLC to the Trash removes the app itself, but its support files, caches and settings stay on your Mac. Here is where they are and how to remove all of them.
Good to know
VLC leaves only small files: preferences, a support folder and a cache. It is a self-contained app with no background helpers.
Before you start
Nothing needs exporting. Your video and audio files are not stored inside VLC. If VLC was the default player for some file types, those files open in another app afterwards.
Bundle identifier:
org.videolan.vlcRemove VLC by hand
- Quit VLC. If it has a menu bar icon or runs in the background, quit that too.
- Open the Applications folder and drag VLC to the Trash.
- In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder (Shift-Command-G), paste each location below, and move what you find to the Trash. Not every location exists for every version.
- Empty the Trash, then restart your Mac so nothing from VLC is left running.
Where VLC keeps its files
/Applications/VLC.app~/Library/Application Support/VLC~/Library/Application Support/org.videolan.vlc~/Library/Caches/org.videolan.vlc~/Library/Preferences/org.videolan.vlc.plist~/Library/Saved Application State/org.videolan.vlc.savedState~/Library/Containers/org.videolan.vlc~/Library/HTTPStorages/org.videolan.vlc~/Library/WebKit/org.videolan.vlc~/Library/Logs/VLC~/Library/Logs/org.videolan.vlc
Other places VLC uses
~/Library/Preferences/org.videolan.vlcData
The quick way
Diskzy finds VLC and the files listed here, shows the size of each one, and moves them to the Trash together. Files that another app also uses are left alone.
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